


It's different this time.

by parttimehuman



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, emotional hurt and something like comfort, feelings are complicated, i humbly apologize, or soft and somewhat happy-ish undertones?, the happiness part really isn't very explicit in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23174800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parttimehuman/pseuds/parttimehuman
Summary: Theo left. And then he came back. But so far, he hasn't faced Liam.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 12
Kudos: 66





	It's different this time.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moera/gifts).



> This little drabble was born from a prompt, but I didn't include the actual prompt line anyway, so I'm just going to say thanks for giving me a feeling of rain a blue-ish gray color.

"Are you serious right now?" Corey asks, still staring at Theo incredulously. "You're not the least bit worried?"

"Worried? About Liam?" Honestly, Theo doesn't get it.

"Dude," Corey mutters, "he's so going to kill you."

"He kind of should," Mason adds quietly, but not quietly enough for Theo not to hear it.

"What does Liam have to do with anything anyway?" Theo wants to know. Now he's asking Corey and Mason, but he's been wondering the same thing for a long time now. Why can't Theo leave Beacon Hills behind for good? And why does every wave of homesickness come with memories of Liam?

"You're smart, Theo," Corey tells him, "but you're stupid. Boy are you stupid."

This is exactly what Theo hates most - everyone pretending like they can see something he can't. Like he's missing this big, obvious thing although he's a chimera and a damn well trained one at that and there really is no way in hell that he's clueless about something this whole entire chaotic town has long figured out. Ridiculous is what it is.

"Fuck off," he growls. He should have just stayed away longer. Should have been gone for good. Packed all his belongings in his truck and left like he'd done a dozen times before.

"When are you going to face him, huh?" Corey asks. When exactly the guy got so cheeky, Theo has no idea. "If I were you, I'd do it as soon as possible, because he's going to know you're back. And if you make him find you so he can murder you in your sleep, it will probably be a lot more painful."

"Listen, I get that you've seen some crazy shit going on in this town, but now you're just being dramatic. Liam doesn't want to kill me. He doesn't care if I'm here or at the other end of the world. He's not going to bother to come and find me or anything."

Corey just rolls his eyes. "I'm not saying it again. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

Corey did warn him. Theo has been warned on numerous occasions by several people, explicitly. So he really has nobody else to blame but himself when he's woken up in the middle of the night by the car he's sleeping in being shaken. And then, the door to the backseat that his feet have been resting against being ripped open so violently that he hopes it will close again.

_ Oh come on, seriously? _

It's what he thinks to himself, because this seems like such a bad joke, Liam standing there after all, soaked by the nightly rain, hair dripping, chest heaving and sinking heavily, Anger Burning in his crisp blue eyes. Human eyes. Not as dangerous. Or Maybe Theo's been wrong about that, he thinks now that he's staring at those very eyes. Maybe they're more dangerous this way than when they glow in the bright yellow of a beta werewolf. Maybe not in general, maybe just for him.

Theo really should say something. Like  _ What the fuck are you doing here? _ Something that sounds either incredibly rude or just utterly annoyed. Something that sounds like  _ Theo _ . Or, the Theo he sometimes wishes he hadn't lost.

Instead, he half sits, half lies there awkwardly, the remnants of sleep making him vulnerable, or maybe something else too. He's looking at Liam, and Liam is looking at him. Words, having been his favorite weapon for years, are failing him.

Liam, who has more than enough words for him, who Theo knows has come with enough words to spit in his face, words of accusation, words meant to blame him, to hurt him; Liam isn't weak like Theo. He won't be derailed by the color of Theo's eyes or the scent of him or any of the stupid things that keep tugging at Theo's reeling mind.

"You left!" Comes first, but it hardly matters. The words themselves are not important, because Theo knows anyway.

Liam pushes inside Theo's truck with little care for Theo's outstretched legs or the fact that he's getting everything wet. A part of Theo wants to point it out, but it's stupid. So stupid, to pay attention to a few drops of rain in the middle of a much bigger mess.

"Everything there was to run from," Liam yelled, "we fought it. And we won. You, me. Us. Together. And then you left."

Theo had told him he would. They'd committed to nothing more than an alliance in a war. Theo hears the words in his head every damn night. _ I'm not dying for you.  _ Wide open eyes, pursed lips. Tense shoulders, too bright light. Hope forced from desperation. A promise. The only one they've ever given each other.  _ But I will fight with you. _

Theo pulls his knees against his chest, trying to keep his back straight at the same time. He's not scared, doesn't want to look defensive. How he really feels he doesn't know. Or maybe knows deep down inside, but isn't used to it. Doesn't know how to take it yet. He nods. He did leave, having made no pledge. Not with words, anyway.

"How long have you been back?" Liam asks, his voice rough, a low growl, dangerous, not giving him the time to reply. Not that it matters. "Did you think you could just do that? Leave? Come back? Hide?"

He wasn't hiding. He's been sleeping in his truck, same as before he left, out in the open. He's been around Corey and Mason among other people. It wasn't a secret that he was back in town. He didn't believe it could be one.

Liam has many more things to say, Theo can clearly see it in his eyes. He's ready for them, he will listen. It's inevitable, he figures. Liam's eyes are still wild, his hands restless, his breathing ragged, the tension high in his body, but his lips part and close in silence. And then again, part and close, pressed together in a thin line.

When Liam speaks again, his voice sends a shudder through Theo. He knows this voice was born after the last time they saw each other. It's unfamiliar because he wasn't there, and if he had been, it would have sounded differently.

"You can't come back home," the voice says.

Now, for the first time, Theo is taken aback. "You want me to leave?" He asks quietly. "Again?"

Liam closes his eyes and exhales, letting all the air escape his lungs. "Back home doesn't exist anymore," he says.

Theo used to think he knew a lot, but that has changed. In that moment, it feels like he knows nothing at all.

"This time," Liam continues, "it can't be for the same reasons, Theo. You're not going to find any partners in crime here. Or weapons. Or information that might be useful to you. It has to be different."

Theo looks down at his hands. He always sees blood there for a second before his eyes convince him that they're clean. "I know," he says. There's only one reason why he's back.

"Don't tell me what it is," Liam whispers, "just tell me that it's different this time."

Theo nods. "I can't come back home. Back home doesn't exist anymore. It's a different reason."

Liam sighs. "I don't believe you. Not today, anyway. But who knows about tomorrow, right?" He opens the door, letting the sounds of the rain disrupt their silence.

Who knows about tomorrow, Theo thinks, and it's definitely not him. He looks out of the window into the darkness so he doesn't have to watch Liam hopping out of the truck and disappearing into the night, thinking about words like  _ sorry _ , words he doesn't know the taste of.

One last time, the truck shakes, and then Theo is on his own again. Differently on his own, a little, in a way that has yet to develop a clear sense in his mind. He pulls his knees against his chest, properly this time, letting his forehead rest on his knees, welcoming all the shame Liam has left him with.

Moments later, as he raises his head up, he catches a glimpse of something shiny at his feet. A silver little object that he picks up from where Liam just sat, hard and cold between his fingers, uneven edges scraping over his skin.

A key.

Because this time, it's different, and Theo isn't the only one who wants to prove it.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to prompt me more, for example from [this prompt list.](https://flyde.tumblr.com/post/611510376600911872/105-prompts-for-drabble-challenges)


End file.
